Deep-fried watermelon, a popular item at California fair

Pleasanton
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Deep-fried, well almost any type of food, seems to be the trend for annual fairs. Every year one vendor ultimately tries to top previous deep-fried concoctions.

This year a vendor at a California fair is catching attention for selling deep-fried watermelon on a stick.

Over time some weird items have been sold at state and county fairs across the U.S. Some of the foods that have been previously deep-fried are candy bars, bubble gum, oreo cookies, beer and even deep-fried butter on a stick. Just to name a few.

This year fairgoers can try something a little different as the Cardinali stand at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, California. The concession has introduced deep-fried watermelon on a stick. It was created last summer and is now a staple at the concession stand.

"Oh my god," Shannon Saxon told San Jose Mercury News, as she shared the deep-fried watermelon with two friends. "This is so wrong. This is so right. It's tart. It's sweet. It's undescribable."

The company's website explains a bit of the inspiration behind the fried watermelon.

"It was actually something I thought of when I was asked to be at a watermelon festival. They wanted me to do something special,” manager Anthony said, though he likes to tell fairgoers it was invented by an Italian chemist. “Everyone loves it!”

Reportedly, the trick to the fried watermelon is to keep the rind on and use seedless watermelon; flash-fry for 20 seconds. The vendor tops the fried watermelon with powdered sugar and drizzles with strawberry sauce.

On the fair's coupon page, Cardinali Family Concessions refers to themselves as "Home of the deep-fried “watermelon” and “pineapple blossom".

Fairgoers intrigued by the deep-fried watermelon on a stick can buy it for $6.

Laughing Squid reported fairgoers can indulge through July 8 when the fair concludes.